Which smart home system to choose - special requests present....

why iobroker and mediola? why isn't one enough?

Before I had iobroker, I was still using the Homematic system back then. And it was there that I became aware of visualization using mediola. However, since the license from mediola for Homematic was too expensive for me, I never implemented it. Then I switched to iobroker. This comes with visualization out of the box. However, in my opinion, it is not quite as easy to use as mediola's. With iobroker, you have to build a lot yourself. With mediola, much is already pre-made. The license from mediola for iobroker also only costs 1€. I didn't really think about it for long back then. Furthermore, I was not able to integrate my surveillance camera with iobroker, which was due to the camera model. Therefore, I initially stayed with mediola. However, at some point I will switch to the visualization from iobroker.

I'm just a little worried about brokers and such that it might turn into a time-consuming hobby instead of a smartly operating home quietly in the background...

I could quote myself now... what you're planning is not trivial and either you pay someone else for the time or invest it yourself. Please finally say goodbye to the idea that there is a system with which all your wishes can be "simply done in the background" and without much work. That doesn't exist.

I also think that you should first consider exactly what you want. A room book can help with this. From that, it can be derived what is needed.

The in my opinion "most cost-effective" in the form of several island solutions like Shelly etc. with iObroker, HomeAssistant has already been mentioned. If this cannot/should not/must not be implemented by yourself and budget does not matter, then either look for someone who can bring several systems together or see if there are possibly systems that meet your wishes (KNX RF, Loxone Air, EnOcean,...)

Hello ,

so we are running an old Raspberry 3+ with IO Broker. My experience with it so far is that it runs very stable (unless I overload it again) and can bring a lot of platforms together under one roof.
You already mentioned the keyword Zigbee. Normally, just like with Openhab etc., you only need one Zigbee stick plugged into the Raspberry and not a separate hub for each system. The only thing to watch out for is the maximum number of devices the stick can manage. After installing the corresponding instance on the IO Broker, you can get started.

I would definitely not rely on an island system, that is way too inflexible. With us, the Ikea motion sensor (Zigbee) reports that the cat is in front of the terrace door, the Xiaomi window contact (Zigbee) reports that the door is locked, and in that case, the IO Broker switches on a light (Wifi/Tasmota) in the living room. Three different systems are controlled via one server and locally without any cloud dependency.
In the morning in bed, you shake the Xiaomi cube (Zigbee) and the coffee machine in the kitchen switches on (Wifi, Tasmota). Then you turn the cube around and the light in the bedroom goes on (Shelly). Alternatively, the IO Broker looks in the stored ICal calendar (Google) for certain entries and switches the coffee machine on (and off again after a defined time).

The RF receiver kindly receives data from the neighbor’s weather station and shares it with the watering instance, which also checks the weather report and accordingly opens the solenoid valves, which are switched via Wifi, for the appropriate times.

If you commit to only one system, you quickly reach its limits because the corresponding hardware is (yet) not available from the provider and you need a second system that in turn cannot communicate directly with the existing one.

By the way, we don’t have any visualization at all. I started with it once, but by now everything runs so automatically that you don’t even need the tablet.

The IKEA Zigbee devices also work with AAA batteries by the way. The ones from Xiaomi look better and are of better quality, but have the small batteries. Of course, it is important that you also have hardwired Zigbee devices that then act as repeaters (lamps, sockets, etc.).

For devices that are farther away, I use Wifi (Shellys and Sonoff/Tasmota) since Zigbee does not have such a long range, and I prefer to use wired devices (Modbus or Mqtt) but that is no longer possible with you.

In any case, you need something like IO Broker, Openhab etc. or you need many hubs and even more apps on your phone.

Best regards

Thank you for your detailed answers! I will probably spend more time reading up on the topic in the hammock over the summer, the neighbor also gave me some good advice this week and pointed me towards Home Assistant because he thinks that for my lack of willingness to program, Io Broker might not be the most comfortable solution lol.
Now it will probably really be a DIY solution with lots of Zigbee and a bit of Enocean on Raspberry Pi or a NAS, and maybe a few Shellys on the next electrician visit.
And instead of tinkering and soldering to get the Velux issue under control, maybe really the Velux Bridge as the only additional device (if I manage to place it inconspicuously somewhere).
Thanks to everyone who pushed me in the right direction with their information!